A/N Hang on tight, this chapter is a bit of an emotional roller coaster.

...

Jack and I sat on the floor beside the Christmas tree. Teddy was crawling around, giggling as he followed Bronte across the rug. He had just figured out how to move a few days before, and it seemed like he hadn't stopped moving since.

Our open presents were strewn across the room. One of the Andy Williams records that Jack had given to me was spinning on the record player, soft music filling the room.

"Come here." He stood and offered his hand.

He pulled me against his chest, his hands settling on my waist. I hooked my arms behind his neck.

We slowly rocked back and forth. "Did you get me these records just so you could dance with me?"

"Maybe a little." He smirked.

"Merry Christmas, Jack."

He leaned in and kissed my nose. "Merry Christmas, Beth."

"I have one last gift for you." I pulled away from him and picked up a small package that had been hidden behind the tree.

"I don't need anything else."

"Trust me. You'll like this one." The corners of my mouth turned up, knowing what he was going to find when he lifted the lid.

Teddy stopped crawling, glancing between us as Jack peeled the paper from the box.

I felt tears form in my eyes at the sight of my husband and son. I thought about the new life growing within me, the baby that Jack would learn about in just a few moments.

He held the test in his hand, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. He slowly lifted his eyes, meeting my gaze. "Is this…? Are you…are we…?" He took a breath. "Another baby?"

I nodded, tears spilling down my cheeks. He dropped the test and brought his hand to my cheek.

"Oh, Beth. We're having another baby! This is the best Christmas present you could ever give me."

"Well, technically, you had something to do with this, too."

He grinned. "That's right. How long have you known?"

"Two weeks. It's been so difficult to keep from you, but I thought it'd be more fun to break the news this way. I think I'm about five weeks now, but we can find out for sure in a couple of weeks at my first ultrasound."

He kissed me softly, brushing his fingers across my stomach. "Hi, baby. I'm your daddy. I can't wait to meet you."

"I don't want to say anything to our families yet, okay? I want it just between us for now."

He gave me a crooked smile. "Our little secret." He covered my stomach with his hand. "Are we going to make it a habit of giving baby news on Christmas? Last Christmas, we told your parents about Teddy."

"Well, as much as I love you and our babies," I placed my hand on his, "I don't think I want to be pregnant every single Christmas."

He chuckled. "Just some Christmases, then." He leaned in to kiss me again. "Another baby. I love you so much, Beth."

...

We pulled into my parents' driveway in the early evening.

"Remember, no mention of the baby."

"Right." He reached across the center console and squeezed my hand, a grin covering his face. "Let's go."

I lifted the car seat from the back seat. Teddy was sound asleep.

My mother greeted us at the door, quietly ushering us into the house. My father was sitting in his chair, reading the paper just like always. Viola and Lionel were on the couch, little George snuggled up between them.

We greeted everyone and made our way up to my childhood bedroom. I smiled as I took Teddy out of his car seat.

"I carried so many baby dolls around this room. This is so much better." I kissed the top of his head.

Jack put down our bags and kissed me softly. "Next Christmas, there'll be one for each of us to hold."

"I can't wait." I kissed him back. "Let's go see what we can find for dinner."

...

Julie arrived home later that evening, having spent the day with her boyfriend's family.

I sipped my tea while she told me all about him.

"He's getting his degree in journalism. He wants to work for a newspaper. And he's a total nerd. You should see him talk about Star Wars. It's adorable."

"Wow, I've never seen you talk about a guy like this before."

"I know we've only been together for four months, but I think he might be the one. I can imagine a real future with him: a house in the suburbs, babies." She cuddled Teddy closer. "Speaking of, are you and Jack going to have more, or is Teddy it for you guys?"

I took all of my willpower not to tell her I was already pregnant again. "We'll have more eventually. I don't know how many. Jack wants five."

"Five?!" She woke Teddy with her outburst, and he started fussing. "Oops." She started bouncing him gently.

I laughed softly. "Yeah, I don't expect we'll have that many, especially if they're all big like Teddy. I don't know how many more times I could do that."

"He is a very big boy." She smiled down at him, and he settled down. "He's almost as big as George, and they're what? Ten months apart?"

I nodded. "About that, yes."

She stroked Teddy's cheek. "Well, I should let you get him to bed." She passed him to me. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Julie."

...

The following day, we had our family Christmas celebration. Teddy and George received more gifts than I could count, and we had an early dinner with all of our favorite dishes.

Julie surprised us all by inviting her boyfriend, and it was clear to all of us that this relationship was different from any she'd been in before.

Before we knew it, our visit was over, and Jack and I were packing everything up and heading back home with our son.

By some miracle, we had both been able to avoid breaking the news that I was pregnant.

...

It happened a few days after I returned to work for the spring semester.

I called Jack as soon as the last of my students had left for the day. Tears stung my eyes as I asked him to pick me up and take me to the hospital. I had been having some pains on and off throughout the day, and as the school day ended, I had started to bleed.

We were both silent on the drive. I held my stomach, praying that everything would be okay, even though my body was telling me otherwise.

As the technician prepared for the ultrasound, I remembered the scare we had before Teddy was born. Although everything had turned out fine then, this time felt different.

The silence in the room was deafening. I couldn't bring myself to look at the screen. Jack held my hand in both of his, tears pooling in his eyes.

When the technician finally spoke, her voice was soft. "I'm sorry."

I let out a sob, not hearing the rest of her sentence.

It made no sense that our baby was gone. It had only been four weeks since I first learned about the baby's existence, and two weeks since I told Jack.

It wasn't fair.

The doctor talked to us after, explaining everything that would happen over the next couple of weeks. I barely heard a word she said; my mind was still on the baby inside me, the baby we would never meet.

Jack kept his arm around me as we walked out to the car. He had spoken with the doctor, but he still hadn't spoken to me.

He kept the car in park, staring at his hands on the steering wheel. "Elizabeth." He looked up from his hands, meeting my eyes. I could barely see him through the tears. "Elizabeth, I wish I knew what to say."

With that, he started the car, and we pulled away from the hospital.

...

I curled up on the bed as soon as we got home. Jack headed next door to pick up Teddy. I heard him speaking quietly to our son as he gave him a bottle and put him down for a nap.

I was beginning to doze when I felt Jack lay down on the bed behind me. I jumped slightly when he reached his hands around my waist. I tried to pull away, but his arms tightened around me.

"Jack…"

"Please." His voice broke. "I just want to hold you."

I rolled over to face him, noticing the tears in his eyes waiting to fall. My heart melted knowing that he was hurting as much as I was. I tucked my head beneath his chin, allowing myself to relax into him.

Neither of us spoke. We let our tears fall in silence until we finally drifted off.

When I woke, Jack's eyes were on my face. He said nothing, but he leaned in and kissed my forehead.

...

I took a seat at my usual table, picking at the napkin in front of me. I glanced out the window. The cold rain matched my mood.

It had been a week since Jack and I had learned that our baby was gone.

"Elizabeth, it's good to see you." Abigail filled a mug with coffee and set it in front of me. I gave her a sad smile. "Are you feeling better? Jack mentioned that you haven't been feeling well lately."

I took a shaky breath. "Physically, I'm feeling better, but emotionally…" My voice trailed off, and tears filled my eyes.

Abigail took my hand and pulled me to the back room. "Hey, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

I shook my head, letting the tears roll down my cheeks. "I was pregnant. We found out last week that I lost the baby."

She pulled me into her arms. My body shook as I sobbed into her shoulder. It was comforting to be in her arms. If anyone understood loss, it was Abigail.

She had not only lost her child, but her husband as well.

"I'm so, so sorry, Elizabeth. How far along were you?"

I wiped my eyes. "Seven weeks. I had just told Jack on Christmas."

She invited me to sit down, not saying anything, just letting me continue.

"This one wasn't a surprise. We'd been trying again since October. We thought it would be nice for Teddy to have a sibling close to his age. I expected that it could take a little while to get pregnant, so I was really excited when it happened so quickly. But I never expected that we would lose the baby."

"No one expects that."

"It's like nothing makes sense right now. How am I so broken over this? I never felt this baby move, I never even heard a heartbeat. Other than the positive pregnancy test, there wasn't really any evidence that the baby even existed."

"Elizabeth," she put her hand on my back, rubbing gently, "of course this is affecting you. That was your baby, and knowing you, you fell in love the moment you suspected you were pregnant."

I nodded and wiped the tears from my cheeks. "Even before I took the test, I was already starting to think about names and imagining what life with two kids would be like."

"I'm so sorry you're going through this, Elizabeth. I wish there was something I could say to take away the hurt. You know I'm always here if you need to talk."

"I know." I took a deep breath. "I need to get to work. Thank you for being such a good friend, Abigail."

She hugged me tightly. "It will get easier. Someday."

...

Jack appeared in the doorway of the nursery while I was changing Teddy's diaper.

"Hi." He leaned against the door frame, his voice soft.

"Hi." I placed Teddy in the crib for his nap, grabbing the baby monitor as I stepped out of the room.

Jack followed me down the hall. "How are you?"

I shrugged, sinking down on our bed. "A little better, I guess. I talked to Abigail today. It gave me some perspective."

He sat beside me, pulling me into his arms. I leaned my head on his chest.

"She mostly just let me talk, but just knowing that she made it through the death of her husband and son helps me know that we can get through this."

He kissed the top of my head. "We can get through anything together."

We were both silent for a few minutes. I focused on the beating of his heart, allowing it to calm me.

"Jack?"

"Yes?" His arms tightened around me.

"I don't want to try again, at least for a little while. I know we both said we were ready for another baby, but I need some time after what happened."

"Of course. We can take whatever time you need. I need some time, too."

"Thank you." I leaned up and kissed him softly. "I'm so lucky to have you, Jack Thornton."

...

"Jack?" I whispered into the darkness, not knowing if he was even awake.

"Hm?" He rolled over and kissed my forehead. "What is it?"

"Do you think we should tell our parents? About the baby, I mean."

"Yes. I think we should. Tomorrow?"

"Mhmm." I scooted closer to him, leaning my head against his chest. "I miss the baby."

He slipped his hand down to my stomach. "So do I."

...

Jack took a seat beside me on the edge of the bed, holding his phone in one hand and resting his other hand on my hip. He dialed the number and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey, Jack. What's going on?"

"Mom, I need to tell you something, but I need you to let me get it all out before you say anything."

"Is everything okay, son?"

"Not so much." He took a deep breath. "A few weeks ago, we found out that Elizabeth was pregnant. We lost the baby last week."

We were met with silence.

"Mom? You still there?"

"I'm so, so sorry, Jack. Is Elizabeth there?"

"She's right here."

"Hi, Charlotte," my voice cracked.

"I'm so sorry, Lizzy. Losing a child is one of the greatest hurts in life—even a child you never met." The way she spoke was almost as if she knew from experience.

"Ma? Did you…?"

"We never told you or your brother, but we lost a baby between you two. You were just a baby yourself, so you wouldn't have known. I was about seven weeks along."

I choked back a sob. "I was seven weeks."

"It's hard, I know. You'll probably think of that baby for the rest of your life—what they would have looked like, who they would have grown up to be. Really the only thing that will help is time."

Jack spoke with her for a few more minutes, holding me as I cried into his chest.

Once he ended the call, he dialed my parents' number. He gave them the same news, and we all cried together.

A while later, I found myself in the nursery, feeding Teddy in the glider. It hurt knowing that his little brother or sister was gone, but I was so incredibly thankful to have him.

He seemed to know that something had been going on recently. He kept smiling at me as he ate, grazing his fingers along my chin.

"Sweet boy," I touched his cheek, "I love you so much."

"He's the best." Jack was standing in the doorway, holding something in his hands. "I have something for you." He crouched down beside the glider as I lifted Teddy to my shoulder. He flipped over the paper he carried, revealing an ultrasound photo. "I think you were in shock when they asked if we wanted pictures. I went ahead and got some. I hope that's okay."

Tears filled my eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "Thank you, Jack."

...

A vase full of purple roses sat on the coffee table when I came home from work the next week. A smile spread across my lips. There was a note sitting beside the vase.

Teddy and I are running some errands. Get ready, it's date night when I get home. I love you, Beth.

With no idea how fancy this date was going to be, I changed into a light blue sweater and my black jeans. It wasn't until after I finished getting dressed that I realized I was wearing the exact same outfit that I wore on my first date with Jack.

"Hi."

His voice startled me. I hadn't heard him come in. "Hi."

Teddy squealed in his arms, grinning at me.

"You look great." He kissed my cheek.

"Thank you." A flush rose in my cheeks. "So, date night?"

"Mhmm. I thought we could use a night just the two of us."

"Are you going to tell me anything about this date?"

"Almost two years together, and you still think I'm going to give up my secrets just like that?" He smirked. "You know me better than that."

I shrugged. "It was worth a shot." Teddy reached for me, and I took him from Jack.

"Do you mind taking little man next door? I need to get changed."

"Okay."

When I returned, I discovered what Jack had planned. The lights were dimmed, and a few candles were flickering on the dining room table. He was dishing up two plates of food.

"You didn't say this was a date night at home."

He turned away from the counter. "I didn't say it was a date night out, either."

"You got me there."

He pulled out my chair, kissing me softly before I took a seat. "I ordered Italian."

"Extra breadsticks?"

"Obviously." He grinned and placed a plate of breadsticks in the center of the table.

"I love you, Jack. Thank you for doing this."

He put down our plates and took his own seat, reaching across the table to intertwine our fingers. "You deserve it, Elizabeth. I love you." He squeezed my hands once before releasing them. "Now, let's eat."

...

A/N I promise the next few chapters I have planned aren't anywhere near this sad, so please just stick with me :)